The Rise
by Neelh
Summary: Four people find themselves tossed into a world that they believed only existed in a dead toy line and the internet, but soon discover three things. Spherus Magna is real, it's changed, and they're the only people who can save it. With four Legendary Masks, can they gain the courage to complete their mission?
1. Chapter 1

_You'll come back when it's over_

_No need to say goodbye_

- The Call, Regina Spektor

* * *

This was not a normal day for Gus.

In fact, Normal had tackled Common Sense out of the window, with Weird egging them on, and had started wrestling in a mud puddle.

At least, that's the only metaphor that came to mind as he stood in front of six of his his childhood heroes.

"Explain," he finally managed to say.

"We'll need to take you to the Turaga first," said Pouks, shaking his head. He turned and called to his team, "Weren't there suppose to be more?"

"I've got one!" replied Gaaki, her voice raised as to carry over the desert of Spherus Magna. As she walked over to them, Gus noticed a rather attractive young woman hanging off her shoulder. Her light brown hair was combed into a neat bob, and she wore a miniskirt and a stylised grey waistcoat. Thigh high socks were falling down her legs, and she was barely hanging on to her leather handbag.

"Then fucking take us!" she exclaimed. "I just dropped out of the fucking sky, so just give me a reason for it!"

"Please calm down, Camille," Norik said sincerely. "We will soon take you to the Turaga and Mata Nui."

"Who the shit are they?"

The Toa of Fire smiled. "In good time."

"In good time my ass."

"Heh," Gus giggled. "Time is pretty much my middle name. To be honest, it's Vahi, but that's the Mask of Time."

Camille glared at him with vibrant green eyes. "Go fuck a cactus."

"No, it really is," grinned the boy. "It's a family name on my mother's side. Pretty cool, huh?"

"In a choice between listening to any more of your inane drivel and stabbing my left buttock with a rusty pitchfork, please rest assured that I would choose the latter," she snapped.

Gus smiled broadly, ignoring what she had just said. "Do you have a weird middle name?"

Camille muttered something.

"Sorry, didn't hear you," he smirked.

"My middle name is Ignika! Go lick your own balls and sit naked on an iceberg."

He blinked thoughtfully.

* * *

After ten more long minutes, Norik finally returned. "The Turaga are ready to meet you."

Camille stood up angrily, though the emotion now seemed visibly forced. "Finally! Take me to your leader, alien boy!"

They both followed Norik until they had reached a circle, around which seven figures sat.

Gus broke out into the most genuine smile he had given since he had arrived. "Turaga Vakama! And Nuju and Nokama and Onewa and Whenua and everyone!"

The others looked relatively surprised and shocked at his reaction, save for Nokama, Dume and Vakama.

"Wait a quick-second," Matau said. "Why does the flesh-Rahi know all of our call-names?"

"Hell if I know," Camille sniped.

Turaga Dume spoke. "We sent an echo of our lives into your universe, so when you arrived here, you would have somehow known of our troubles."

"Yeah!" Gus half-sang, bouncing up and down. "In the best toyline ever!"

Nokama nodded. "Yes. It was called Bionicle, correct?"

"Oh, that," said Camille disdainfully. "I hated them."

Nobody paid attention to her, as a green Glatorian had just arrived, supporting two teenagers.

"Holy fuck," said the male. "Holy fucking fuck fuck fucking a fuck."

"Archie!" exclaimed the girl, poking him in the stomach.

Gresh dropped them both next to Gus, who helped them up. "I found them. Please don't tell me you already started explaining."

Gus looked at them, fascinated, and introduced himself. "So, who are you?"

The female smiled serenely. "Marigold Avhokii Samson. This is my brother, Archibald Kraahkan Samson."

She continued speaking, but was drowned out by the shout of "Archie!" directly next to her ear.

"But you can call us Mary and Archie," she finished.

Archie looked around at the seven Turaga, the Toa and the Glatorian. "Where the hell are we?"

"You are on Spherus Magna," Turaga Vakama said. "We summoned you here because we need your help."

"What's wrong?" Gus asked, his excitement mounting.

Turaga Onewa glared at him. "Half of the Toa are dead, that's what."

Gus's eyes widened and his face fell. He didn't move from this state for a minute, then balled his hands into fists and furrowed his eyebrows determinedly.

"What do I have to do?"

* * *

This story is intended to focus on character development and is my experimentation and foray into this area.

Please don't be put off by the swearing or the shortness of it; curses are purposefully put in to give measures of character and the subsequent chapters will be a lot longer.


	2. Chapter 2

_Bye bye, Babylon_

_Once reaching for the sun_

_Depraving everyone_

_So don't you know you don't belong?_

- Bye Bye Babylon, Cryoshell

* * *

The four humans, the Turaga and the remaining Toa were stood at a cliff, which overlooked the remains of two large robots.

"Great," Camille said, irritably folding her arms. "What the fuck is that?"

Mary surveyed the cliff edge, carefully pacing along it, before pointing at a small foothold. "We're climbing down that way," she grinned, throwing her bag to Archie.

"Mary, stop-" shouted Turaga Vakama, his mask ridges furrowed in concern. However, he was cut off by a small scream. Everyone but Archie, whose face was unreadable, rushed to the edge, only to see the girl sitting on an outcropping. She sniggered and resumed her clambering down the natural structure. Her brother sighed and shook his head.

"Every time," he sighed. "It gets them every single time."

Gus looked up angrily. "We were about to jump down after her!"

"But you didn't," shrugged Archie.

The darker-skinned boy walked over the nearest tree and punched it. He cupped his fist, backing away from the tree and hurling verbal abuse and threats of bodily harm at the plant. A Toa of Plantlife glared at him.

"Are you sure that there are the people destined to save us?" Whenua asked.

Vakama shook his head, exasperated. "Unfortunately, yes."

Camille stood beside him, her arms folded and shifting most of her weight to her left leg. "The sentiment is the same here."

The Toa had helped the rest of the party down, before leaving to help their villages. Some Glatorian and Agori remained, as well as three of he Toa Hagah. Camille had clung desperately to Gaaki's chest, burying her face in the Toa's shoulder. Gus had chosen Iruni strategically, while Gresh carried a bored Archie down the cliff. Soon enough, they had reached the bottom of the rocky cliffside and were dwarfed by the two giant robots. Mary shook her head as she took her bag from her brother.

"You could fit two universes in there," she sighed. "And then this planet is so much bigger…"

He shrugged, before looking down and smiling at his sister faintly.

* * *

The Turaga led them to the Makuta robot's head, during which Camille had claimed tiredness at least sixteen times, while Archie gave his sister a piggyback until he was tired, at which point Mary returned the favour. They were led through a hole in the metallic skull, which was now closer to the ground, and entered the lower floors of the half-destroyed Great Temple. The Toa Hagah gasped in recognition of the place, and began to instinctively lead the way for the Turaga, humans, and the remaining Agori and Glatorian.

Mary's eyes scanned the aged walls, covered in old Matoran runes too old to clearly read and muttered some possible translations to herself. Archie recalled out to firmly grasp her wrist, and she began to simply mouth them to herself.

The heavy silence continued until the larger than necessary group reached a small Toa Suva. Archie dropped his hands to his sides. "Oh no. Hell fucking no. I'm supposed to be applying for college right now, not adventuring on an island, fulfilling all my childhood dreams…"

As his voice trailed off, Mary took the opportunity to pipe up with her self-acclaimed words of wisdom. "Exactly! We have been rescued from a life of corporate slavery."

"But how will this help us?" questioned Gus.

"Check your pockets," Nokama smiled warmly, wisdom and age slowing her voice.

The boy obliged, and pulled out a large orange stone that shone, even with no light source. Archie pulled out a similar one in purple, while Mary was smiling and throwing her white one into the air.

"Oh my _fuck_," Camille groaned, glaring at her pocketless skirt. She started, then looked in her bag, pulling out a dark blue stone. "So, what does this mighty Pebble of Power do?"

Gus, on the other hand, was in a state of shook. "This… A Toa Stone?"

"If connecting out universes did anything," muttered Onewa, "we have a whole lot less explaining to do."

Without warning, the Toa Suva lit up, with four pits for the stones glowing faintly with their respective colours.

As though being pulled by some mystical force, the four humans walked to their stones' pits and instead the Toa Stones.

The Spherus Magnans were pushed back against the walls by the sheer force of what happened next. Lightning shot out of the Suva that struck the humans and knocked them to the floor. There were some screams of pain and shock, but it was impossible to determine their origin.

When it was all finally over, Mary pulled herself up wearily. Her bun and ponytail was in a mess and her clothes were now composed of a white t-shirt and light to mid-blue shorts. Her sneakers were white and when she ran her hands over the new outfit, they felt smooth and metallic, though they still fell like cotton and denim. "Archie… Archie!"

She scrambled on her hands and knees towards her brother. The Turaga quietly sent the Agori and all but one Glatorian away, and they returned the way that they had come from.

The blonde girl was about to slap her brother awake, but he caught her hand, even with his eyes only slightly open. "I'm okay," he smiled faintly. "I just feel really heavy."

"_Heavy_?" she screeched. "What-"

He forced himself up and looked down at his new clothes. Black, straight-legged trousers and a purple t-shirt wouldn't have been his first choice, but the black sneakers really set the outfit off.

Gus brushed off his loose red trousers and stood up. "Do you know what we really need?" he asked rhetorically.

"A free trip home?" replied Camile, indignant at her recolour of her old clothes in a variety of blues.

He shook his head, grinning widely. "No. Toa tools."

As soon as he said the words, the Suva opened up and Mary leapt into it. She emerged moments later with two jagged blue-silver blades. Her face bore a smile so wide, Gus feared that her head might split in two.

"Oh hell yes," whispered Archie as he chose a set of broadswords.

Camille selected some nunchucks with engravings on the side, while Gus pulled out a pair of mini-axes, both of which were double ended.

"This is the best," he breathed, before speaking up to address Archie. "I need your help."

"What?" the other boy asked, looking up from his practise.

"Stab my shirt."

The purple-clothed boy stared at him with his sister's light blue eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," he replied, pulling out the hem."

Archie sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you," he said, bringing the sword in his left hand down. It clashed off the orange fabric and slipped down to land on the floor with a clatter.

"Oh," the boy commented. "Fuck."

"If you are quite finished," Vakama said, "we have to leave."

Camille rolled her eyes as everyone else made sounds of agreement, but did not disagree. She followed the others out and kept and eye out for danger.

The tunnels seemed even longer and more complex than they had before. Camille glanced at Mary, who was staying overly close to the right hand wall. Iruni and Gaaki were leading the way, with Norik and Gresh bringing up the rear. Archie, Gus and Mary had formed a triangle around the Turaga, which she supposed was more of a square due to the fact that she was unintentionally filling the gap behind Iruni and in front of Norik.

"I swear we've been past this wall before," said Gresh, glaring at a few runes. Nevertheless, the party continued and Mary resumed her translations of the faded letters.

"_This prophecy is set in stone_… No shit, look at the wall! _Save them from the shadows of time_, what?"

"Whoever wrote these must be such a pretentious twat," the brunette woman muttered.

Mary ran her fingers over a sentence, only for the wall to crumble under her hand.

"What did it say?" gulped Camille, gripping her weapon.

"Good luck," responded the blonde. "Now duck!"

The wall gave way completely, and Mary pulled every Turaga she could grab hold of to the floor. Gresh and Gaaki moved to defend the six from the Lohrak flying out of the cave that was behind the wall.

Dropping her nunchucks, Camille screamed. Gus picked them up and thrust them into her chest, before bringing out one of his axes and hitting one of the flying creatures with it.

"Hey! Stop being such a klutz!" cried Gresh, as the blade of the axe narrowly missed him.

The auburn-haired human began to shout an apology, before a Lohrak began to pull him away with its sharp teeth. Norik immediately burnt it to a crisp, and Gus thanked him as he brushed the ash off of his shirt.

Archie pointed into the cave, which Iruni had just blown a mass of Lohrak into. "In there!" he yelled, leading the way and swinging his broadswords.

"Is he suicidal?" asked Camille, an eyebrow raised and her mouth asymmetrical in shock.

Mary readied her blades and pulled Camille in after the others. "Probably."

As her companion dodged one of the Rahi, she smirked, slicing it in half and making her new friend smile.

"But really, aren't we all?"

* * *

They fell through the exit at the end of the cave and onto the sandy desert ground.

"Holy fuck," Mary grinned. She jumped up. "Let's do it again!"

Camille massaged her bruised back. "Yes, let's. Just let me think of a good time. Hm, how about, I don't know, never?"

Turaga Matau raised his head. "Just wait a quick-second. Where's Iruni?"

Gresh looked at his feet and shifted his weight to his right foot, then back to his left, before making eye contact with the Turaga. "I'm sorry."

It was a sound none wanted to hear again. A scream of grief, loss and aner, followed by "Why didn't I see?"

Norik was in a state of shock at the loss of his teammate. He seemed completely frozen, until Gaaki began to claw at the place that they had just left. He pulled her away and into his strong embrace.

"I… I can't believe…" she sobbed. "We were always together, us six. What sick twist of destiny is this?"

Gus stood frilly, observing the situation and thinking hard. "Ours," he finally breathed. He raised his voice to be heard by the others. "This is what we've got to do, isn't it? Fix where you have failed."

Turaga Whenua was about to confirm this statement, when Camille threw her nunchucks to the ground in disgust and folded her arms.

"_No_. Do not give me any part in this _whatsoever_!" she screamed. "What, did you think that we were all little Lego worshippers with such a boring life that we needed a more inclusive experience or something, resulting in one, if not more, of our deaths? Because you can count me the fuck out, dickwaffle."

It was a silence only interrupted by tears. Gus nodded, and the Turaga began leading the two Toa Hagah away. Next were Gus and Gresh, and finally Mary was shooed away by her brother.

"I understand," Archie said, standing beside her.

"Do you?" the brunette replied, sceptically raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow.

"Well, I understand why you hate it here, and why you - rightful, may I say - loathe us. To be honest, the only reason that I'm coping right now is because I spent most of my childhood being Tahu and Kopaka and Onua and even I want to go home."

"That's nice," she muttered scornfully.

Archie chuckled, running a hand through his slicked back hair. "I guess it is. But Mary was always inclined towards the story, and she pretty much lived by the Three Virtues." Camille looked at him, genuinely interested and inquisitive, to which he responded by scratching a symbol on the door with his broadsword. "Unity, Duty and Destiny. Mary was never able to keep hold of a religion for too long, but this has lasted for about four years."

"And your point is?"

"Maybe we have to do this. Maybe it's predestined. Maybe-"

"Stop trying to pull me into your Lego kink shit," she said, wrapping her arms closely around her chest.

"Oh, okay," he said, stumbling over his vowels and turning slightly pink. "I'll go and ask Vakama if the transportation works the other way-"

"God fucking damn it!" she shouted. "I meant that I was coming! Like with you and your sister and that one douchenozzle? For crying out loud, let a girl finish!"

She grabbed her nunchucks with her left hand and Archie with her right. When he gave her hand a small squeeze, she followed the now distant figures of her allies. Then, with no warning, she turned and saluted. "Rest in peace, Iruni," she whispered.

* * *

"They should be here by now," Mary mused, failing to disguise her worry.

"Maybe a Muaka got 'em," Onewa said. When the blonde's lip began to tremble, he attempted to fix his mistake, but it was too late. Mary had become the second female that day to burst into tears over a lost brother.

"Look," Gresh said, his hand on Mary's shoulder and pointing to the horizon. Everyone looked up, but the two Hagah returned to their silent mourning after they saw the two lone humans. They seemed to be chatting quite amicably, but stopped as soon as they were in earshot. Mary was no longer crying and, fixing her bun-ponytail combination, ran to her brother and jumped into his waiting arms. He staggered backwards a few steps, but kept a hold of her.

"Woah. How long were we gone for?"

"Just under twenty minutes," Gus replied.

Camille laid her chin on her fist. "You timed us?"

He shrugged, and was about to reply when his stomach loudly rumbled. "Holy crap, I'm hungry."

"I have some food in my bag," said the woman. "We can't have much, though."

Gresh also pulled out some Thornax and Bula Berries. When he saw the humans' disgust and shock at the spiked fruit, he raised his hands defensively. "It's not overripe yet! It's not going to explode, I promise."

"Shouldn't we alert-call the other Hagah first?" asked Matau.

"No," Nokama said firmly. "That will also alert Dark Hunters." Turning to the humans, she continued. "They did not disband when Makuta died. We are doing this in public knowledge, but there are some people who have deeply opposed our choice. The Hunters outnumber Toa to our knowledge, and also a large amount of the Glatorian. Agori and Matoran are dying. We cannot accept this anymore. We are aware that at least one Agori has hired them to stop your mission at any cost. If you alert them to our location, we will be likely killed."

"Then why did you have all these witnesses to the time and place of the transformation?" asked Gus, an incredulous look on his face.

They were interrupted by Gresh and Camille pulling them down to the floor to participate in a picnic of fruit and granola bars. "Everyone, just shut up and eat this fucking delicious food."

Everyone dug in, except for Camille, who held her hands together and muttered a quick grace before munching on a granola bar. Mary held a Thornax in her hands gently and looked to Gresh for help. He showed her how to open it to get to the soft, juicy fruit inside, and she wolfed it down happily. The sudden energy, however, made her hair stand on end and start crackling with electricity.

"Shit!" she yelped, standing up and jumping around. It would have been comedic, if Archie wasn't trying to subdue her gently and being thrown back onto the floor. With wide eyes, Mary tried to look at him and at her hands, but the muscles were jerking rapidly and she couldn't stay still. With a scream, she fell and began to thrash on the floor.

"Mary!" Turaga Nuju exclaimed, his voice hoarse and littered with chirps and trills. "Shoot it out of your hands!"

As Mary squinted her eyes in pain and concentration, twin bolts of lightning came from the sky, followed by a little fall of rain. Camille looked to see Nokama holding her trident and furrowing the ridges of her mask.

As Mary breathed out slowly, now looking less shocked, Archie ran to her and stroked her hair. "Don't you fret," she smiled weakly. "I'm okay."

He helped her to sit up, while Gus handed her a Bula Berry. "This is okay to eat. It won't send you into a hyper frenzy, and you'll only need a couple to be back to normal."

"Thanks," she grinned.

As Nokama ended her small rainstorm, a heavily armoured Fire Agori called from the top of the cliff, "Hey! I got something ya might need!"

They all looked up, until Gresh finally deadpanned, "Am I going to have to go up there to get her again?"

Archie shook his head slowly. "I've got this." Looking up to her, he shouted "Jump!"

She looked at him with slightly widened eyes and baring her teeth incredulously. "Is your sweet organic ass crazy? I ain't jumping!"

"Trust him," encouraged Mary.

"God knows it's what I'm doing," added Camille.

"Who's God?"

The blonde shrugged. "Our sweet organic Mata Nui."

The Agori made as if to agree, pouted and leaped off the cliff with no warning. It happened so quickly, Archie almost didn't adjust gravity around her to soften the landing.

"Geez, give the dude some warning before doing that next time," said Gus, rolling his eyes.

"Look, orangey," the Agori said. Her left hip jutted out and she folded her muscular arms over her red-plated chest. "He told me to, I did. All I did was my duty. If ya don't wanna get what's here-" She patted the packs on her waist and hips. "-then fuck right back of ta the sorry hole ya came from."

The boy blinked her up and down, the Agori was not a force to be reckoned with. Though a couple of feet shorter than him, she had slim, near-black and narrowed eyes, furrowed brows and large leg muscles. Her helmet fitted the contours of her head closely and resembled that of a viking, though with a row of small, slightly curved horns that resembled a mohawk.

"Kadnin, have you been around Marka again?" Nokama asked, smiling.

"No shit!" she replied, grinning. A few of her teeth were replaced with a kind of Protodermis commonly used in armour. "She's my girlfriend now!"

As Nokama congratulated her, and everyone else looked uncomfortable, Camille simply looked incredulous, as she had been often that day. "Lesbian Lego sets. I have now, officially, seen everything."

"Mouthy," smirked Kadnin. "You're gonna see a whole lot more."

Gus looked between the two. "Wait, how come I get the pissed off Agori, but she gets the flirting?"

"I never could resist a pretty lady," she grinned. "Even tall ones with no armour. Especially tall ones with no armour."

Gresh shook his head rapidly and raised his hands. "Too much information! I don't need to know about your Kiina fantasies!"

Mary gagged. "Gresh!"

"Anyway, I got the goods he Turaga wanted, so here ya go!" Kadnin pulled the four packs over her head with a single large hand and threw the first three to Gus and the twins. "Vahi, Avhokii, Kraahkan and…" She held the pack containing the Ignika and black eyes met green. "This is the Mask of Life. It contains both the spirits of the Ignika and Mata Nui. It curses all but a chosen few who touch it, so be careful. Keep it safe."

Camille nodded, only half-listening. The others had opened their packs and were holding their new masks. Archie's Mask of Shadows was easily the largest, while the Vahi that Gus held wouldn't even cover his face fully, were he to put it on. Camille didn't even bother to look at her own.

"So, are we ready to go yet?" Gus asked.

"No," interjected Mary solemnly, her intent gaze iced on Turaga Vakama, who returned it steadily. "I understand that we are somehow destined to wear these masks, and I am grateful for this frankly legendary Kanohi, but it belongs to Takanuva." She breathed deeply before continuing. "Can you confirm my worst fears?"

He met her eye and spoke. "Toa Takanuva was on patrol at the Ta-Atero falls, and when he didn't return, a search party was sent for him. This was all they found."

Archie watched his sister with concern as her bright blue eyes fell to the floor. Her expression was almost faultless, but even that couldn't disguise the small movements of her shoulders as she attempted to breathe normally but failed. Her bottom lip quivered, and the blue-eyed boy moved into action. He pulled a bag out of his back pocket, then opened and removed a small blue sweet with one hand. He turned Mary around to face him and opened her mouth to place the jellybean on her tongue, before closing it back up. She chewed and swallowed it, before leaning on his shoulder. "Sorry.

Camille blinked. "The fuck was that?"

Gus ignored her, and instead repeated his earlier question. "When are we going, and how?"

"Now," Turaga Nokama said, "and with this."

She pulled out a blue stone a little larger than Camille's thumb, which glowed slightly. It was attached to a black cord. "Kadnin, when she found a fragmented Olmak, attempted to repair it by taking it to the nearest vat of Energised Protodermis. It will take you anywhere you need to go at exactly the right moment."

"So, we can travel all of time and space with this?" the boy asked.

"Not exactly," smiled Vakama. He was about to continue, when Nuju's hoarse tone interrupted him.

"Quick! Go!"

The four looked to where the Turaga pointed, and Camille took the gem forcefully from Nokama, who readied her trident against the Hunters that surrounded them.

"Throw it on the ground!" yelled Kadnin over the growing noise. Camille obeyed, and the last thing she saw was something swooping down onto Gaaki and Norik before the blue light swallowed her up.

* * *

Well, fuck. I cut this chapter down.

Plot advances in the next few chapters, when they arrive at a very much-loved city.


End file.
